Inevitable
by ittybittyalissa
Summary: My take on how Tony and Ziva deal with Vance's decision to break up the team...


_**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, or its characters...I just like to borrow them from time to time. :)**_

He heard her as she picked the lock to his front door, but he made no move to get up from where he was seated. He knew exactly who it was – he had actually expected her long before now. He had started to think that maybe she wouldn't come.

She figured he was lost in his own thoughts as she slipped into his apartment. As she closed the door quietly, she actually jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I knew you'd come," he said, still not moving. Ziva said nothing as she walked into his living room and around the couch so that she was facing him. She wasn't surprised to see a bottle of beer in his hand. She could tell that there wasn't much of it gone though.

"How could you be so sure?" she asked as she sat down on the couch next to him. Tony shifted his position so that he was facing her.

Tony shrugged as he reached over and placed the beer on the table in front of him.

Ziva looked around. "It doesn't look like you've packed much."

"Don't have too. Once I got home and started thinking about how much I had to do, I called Vance and asked him for a few days to put my stuff in order – you know, figure out what's going to happen to my apartment, get things settled at the bank, pack, that sort of thing. I was surprised that he agreed to it, but he did."

"So now when do you leave?"

"A week from tomorrow. What about you? Have you heard anything from Mossad yet?" Ziva shook her head no.

"It will be a day or two for all of the paperwork to be sorted out and gone through. I don't expect to hear from anyone until after the weekend."

Tony nodded. Ziva looked away, unsure as to what to say next. She had gone over and over everything she wanted to say to him in her head as she drove over. But now, she was at a loss for words. She could feel Tony's glances as he watched her, studying her face. Finally, he reached over and gently forced her to look at him.

"Why did you really come here, Ziva?" he asked quietly. His hand lingered on her cheek, not wanting to break the contact.

"I think you know exactly why I came here, Tony." She reached up and took his hand away from her face, then laced her fingers through his. "I don't think either one of us are ready to say goodbye."

"I really screwed up this time, Ziva. And it doesn't just hurt me this time – it hurts the whole team. Gibbs, Abby, McGee, Ducky..." he paused and then continued quietly. "Us..."

"Tony, this isn't your fault. Things happen for a reason, yes? We both were following the Director's orders."

"But if I had listened to you, we may have made it to the diner in time to save her life!"

"Or we could have been caught in the gunfire and died with her," Ziva countered.

"You don't know that."

"You're right Tony, I don't. But I do know that Jenny wouldn't want you to blame yourself like this. She made the decision that day, for whatever reason, to keep us out of it." She paused for a moment, and looked down at where their hands were joined. "And I'd never tell anyone else this," she began quietly. "But in some ways, I think I will always be grateful for that."

"Why?" Tony asked. His heart began to beat faster, almost as though he could sense what she was about to say.

"Because," she began, taking a deep breath. She knew now was the time to tell him. "I wouldn't have wanted to die without having the chance to tell you that I love you."

Tony smiled. It was the first smile she had seen from him in days. Everything felt like it was in slow motion as Tony leaned forward, gently touching his lips to hers. He pulled back, just long enough to be sure that she wanted this just as much as he did. Then he leaned forward again and kissed her, this time with all of the pent up passion and tension that had been building between the two of them for the past 3 years. Ziva returned his kisses eagerly.

The two finally parted, panting with a need for air. After several deep breaths, their breathing returned to normal. Tony sat back against the couch, and wrapped his arms around Ziva, as she laid her head on his chest.

"You know why I think I feel so guilty about Jenny's death?" he asked.

"No, why?" Ziva found herself snuggling even closer to him, relishing in how good it felt to be in his arms.

"Because, I wanted her to give us the day off. I wanted to have the chance for us to spend some time together – just the two of us."

"Then why did you say you were going to have to cut me loose?"

"How could you hear that, you were like what, ten feet away!" Ziva smiled at him as she shrugged. She took the opportunity to lean up and kiss him again.

"I don't know," Tony sighed. "I just thought it would nice if we went to dinner, then maybe go dancing..."

"and end the evening in your hotel room, yes?"

"I'm not going to say that the thought didn't cross my mind a time or two..."

Ziva sat up and raised her eyebrow at him. "Just a time or two?"

"Okay, maybe more than that." Tony chuckled, then his face grew serious. "You know, once I finally realized that I had fallen in love with you, I kept telling myself that if something was meant to happen between us, then it would. But, looking back now, I think that I was probably scared – I had really messed up everything with Jeanne, and I'd never want to hurt you the way I hurt her. Now look, I feel like we've wasted so much time – now what do we have, a few days?" he threw his hands up and bounded off the couch, his voice growing louder. "Is it even worth it?"

Ziva got up off of the couch and stood in front of Tony. The two stared at one another for several seconds.

"You and I both know that you don't mean that," Ziva said finally. Tony sighed deeply, and nodded.

"You're right, I don't." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "I've had a lot of time to think over these past few days, and the one thing I do know for certain is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ziva. But now, with Vance splitting up the team, shipping me off to some ship, and you back to Israel, I don't know if that's even possible anymore."

"Of course its possible, Tony." Ziva answered, smiling. She hugged him tightly. "Anything's possible if you want it enough. Gibbs promised us that he would get the team back together, and I believe him. In the three years I've worked with him, I've never known Gibbs not to live up to his word."

"True," Tony replied. "But what then? He gets the team back together and we act like there's nothing going on between us?"

"No, of course not. We'll just tell Gibbs the same thing you told me earlier." Ziva said as she looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh really, what's that?" Tony looked down and couldn't help but smile at the sparkle he saw in Ziva's eyes. He was never going to grow tired of seeing that – and knowing that he was the one that put it there.

"That it was inevitable." Tony leaned down and captured her lips with his own, knowing that he couldn't agree more.

_Thanks in advance to anyone who reviews!_


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